Tennis star Sharapova withdraws from WTA championships
MOSCOW. October 7 . KAZINFORM World No. 3 tennis player Maria Sharapova of Russia withdrew Monday from the season-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul as she continues to recover from injury.
Sharapova has played just one match in the last three months thanks to a right shoulder injury that curtailed a promising season for her, after she reached the French Open final in June.
"I am very disappointed that I will not be able to play," Sharapova said on the WTA website. "The fans in Istanbul have welcomed us each year with such intense passion and warmth, I will sincerely miss the energy and excitement they brought to the year-end tournament."
"I want to thank Istanbul for being a tremendous host and hope to play in Turkey sometime in the future."
As well as her injury, Sharapova is currently without a coach. She fired eight-time Grand Slam winner Jimmy Connors after just one match with him, a second-round defeat to Sloane Stephens at Cincinnati in August, R-Sport says.
Sharapova's absence opens up another spot at the WTA Championships, for which the top eight women in the rankings qualify automatically. World No. 9 Caroline Wozniacki is favorite to take that spot, but could yet be overtaken by No. 10 Angelique Kerber.
The players who have already qualified are world No. 1 Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Li Na, Sara Errani, Petra Kvitova and Jelena Jankovic.
The championships will be played from October 21 to 27 and will have a $6 million prize fund.